10 Awesome Movies Based on True Events

Films are powerful, managing to evoke the strongest emotions by telling important stories. While some may be the result of someone’s creative imagination, many films are factual or historical. This list features a few from every genre, and from different countries too. Here are 10 Awesome Movies Based on True Events.

1) The Theory of Everything

Most of us are familiar with Stephen Hawking, but how many of us know who he was before he became a famed theoretical physicist. The film details his life long before his illness impeded his movement, so we get to see a very different side of Hawking. We even get a glimpse into his personal life. Eddie Redmayne played him brilliantly and was given Hawking’s blessing to do so.

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2) Hidden Figures

Up until 2016, the stories of Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan were known to a fairly small group of people. Thanks to Hidden Figures, the world now knows just how important these women are to American history. They were brilliant women who had to overcome many hurdles at NASA due to their gender and race, and the film details their struggle and their accomplishments in their field despite the obstacles in their path.

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3) Neerja

This amazing story almost sounds too good to be true, but it is an unfortunate tragedy that really happened. Neerja centers upon the real-life heroism of flight attendant Neerja Bhanot, who in 1986 died while saving passengers on board a hijacked Pan Am flight. She was only 22. Sonam Kapoor plays Neerja in this film.

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4) The Conjuring

The Conjuring is a horror movie, and while some people remain skeptical about the truth behind ghosts and spirits, the characters and events in the film really did occur. Ed and Lorraine Warren are played wonderfully by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, and the film centers around the Warren’s careers as demonologists, as they investigate strange occurrences in the Perron residence.

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5) The Pursuit of Happyness

Today, Chris Gardner is a businessman, investor, and motivational speaker, inspiring countless people to work hard to follow their dreams. Once upon a time, he was a homeless single father to a young son, struggling to make ends meet whilst constantly searching for a safe place for him and his child to sleep at night. Will Smith and his real-life son Jaden play Chris Gardner and son in this touching film.

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6) Beautiful Boxer

This film tells the story of Thai transgender boxer Parinya Charoenphol, who was born male and took up Muay Thai kickboxing to save up funds to support her parents and pay for a male-to-female sex reassignment surgery. In the film, trained boxer Asanee Suwan portrays Parinya. The film touches on the various prejudices faced by those in the transgender community, and also how Parinya overcame these.

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7) 12 Years A Slave

12 Years A Slave tells the story of Solomon Northup, who wasn’t born shackled to slavery, and led a life of freedom until he got kidnapped and sold into the slave trade later in life. The film doesn’t shy away from the brutality of slavery, detailing Northup’s experiences as he is moved around to different slave owners over the course of twelve years.

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8) Han Gong-ju

This South Korean film tackles a very difficult topic – that of a gang rape case that occurred there in 2004. The victims were young schoolgirls, and this film touches on one girl’s life after losing her friends through this traumatic incident. With its creative format, the film received high praise on an international level. Chun Woo-hee stars as the titular character.

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9) The Imitation Game

This film takes place in 1939, and centers around the brilliant mathematician Alan Turing, who is selected to crack Nazi codes along with others. Turing successfully builds a machine to crack the Enigma code, and played an important role in World War 2. The film also explores the difficulty of a woman’s role in this team, with Keira Knightley’s character Joan. The mistreatment of Turing for being gay is a sad part of the film.

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10) Erin Brockovich

Julia Roberts won an Oscar for playing the titular character, a single mom who became a legal assistant and discovered a cover-up by a large corporation that was causing the city’s water supply to be polluted. Despite her lack of experience as a lawyer then, she fought to bring attention to the issue and along with her boss, went on to win a huge settlement of $333 million.